


i'm no good without you

by madiokay



Category: Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018), Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018) Actor RPF
Genre: Age Difference, F/M, High School AU, M/M, cute boys falling in love, lowercase intended, my lil heart, shy Ben
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-05
Updated: 2019-04-05
Packaged: 2019-11-12 14:34:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 17,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18012698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madiokay/pseuds/madiokay
Summary: ben is just a little cute bi boy and joe is a fucking handful.





	1. new dawns

the sharp bell rang in ben's ears, not being used to the sound. he had been homeschooled right up until his first day of eleventh grade. his parents hadn't wanted him to go to public school. after lots of convincing and promises that he would keep his grades up his parents finally agreed to let him go. "east hills." his parents decided. 

ben slipped into his seat just as the late bell rang, not wanting to bring much attention to himself. he was a fifteen year old junior in high school. his parents were real sticklers on grades and didn't really give ben a summer vacation. because of this, he was a grade above all of the other people his age which made it a bit harder for him to make friends. he tapped his index finger on the side of the desk, watching as a few people slipped into the class late. the teacher was still setting the computer up and didn't seem to notice the few kids who were just a minute later. 

he felt a sharp poke on his back, turning to look at the poker. he saw a girl with shorter blonde hair sitting behind him with a smile on her face. "hey, i don't think i've seen you around before?" she questioned. "uh yeah, i just started here." she let out a nod, before looking him up and down. "lucy." she informed, sticking her hand out. ben shook her hand before nodding. "i'm ben." he replied back before he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. he ignored it, knowing that if he got his phone taken his parents would probably pull him out of school quicker than a "so pretty boy, do you want to sit with my friends and i at lunch today?" ben wasn't really too sure what to say. he didn't have any friends here and after seeing mean girls too many times, he didn't want to end up in bathroom for lunch. 

after going through the motions, meeting a few people throughout the day even though most of them seemed very insignificant, the bell for lunch rang. he got up from his seat, walking out of the classroom. he pulled his phone out of his pocket just to see that buzzing earlier was because he had received a text from his mom and a text from his little sister. 'hope everything's going ok. if you need anything pls call. xx' his mom had sent. ben replied with a simple 'everything's fine' before opening his sister's text. he laughed as she complained about how their mother was only on her ass now. 

he thanked his lucky stars that he convinced his parents to send him to public school. ben shoved his phone into his pocket, walking through the open doors of the cafeteria. he looked around, gulping at the sheer size of the place. the biggest event he had ever been to was his dad's hospital charity event and it didn't even look this crowded. he turned his head to the left as he heard his name being called. he saw the blonde girl, lucy, from his first period waving her hand in the air like a madman. on one side of her, a short guy sat, shaking his head at her actions. the other side had a really tall guy who ben couldn't help but think looked good. the space directly in front of lucy was open and after a wave back, ben made his way to the seat. 

sitting down, lucy began to introduce ben to the others. "rami, this is ben. ben, this is my boyfriend rami." she informed, motioning to the shorter guy beside her. "this is gwil, gwil this is ben." she told again. ben nodded at the two before he opened his bag. "joe's about to be here soon, i actually have no clue where that fucker is." ben nodded. "how do you guys do this? this school is so confusing?" he asked, looking over his map. he had been late to his last two classes, he was way too shy to ask any teacher or any other student where to go. rami looked over, looking at his schedule. "i promise once you get used to it, the school really isn't that big." he heard the guy who was identified as gwil speak he nodded before feeling someone next to him. 

"fuck man, my chips got stuck in the vending machine again." the new person whined before getting a laugh out of the group. ben pulled the pack of chips in his bookbag out and held them out. "you can have mine, i'm not really hungry." lucy looked over at ben, a small smirk on her face at the interaction. "thanks cutie." the guy said before he turned back to the table, nonetheless causing the tips of ben's ears to go red at the compliment. ben watched as he opened the bag, and put the chip in his mouth before turning back over. "do i know you?" the guy asked. "i just started. lucy invited me to sit here at lunch." the guy smiled before lucy spoke. "joe, this is ben. ben this is joe." ben nodded, while joe let out a smile. "lemme see your schedule." gwil spoke, holding his hand out. ben pulled his schedule out of his pocket and handed it over. 

"oh that's sweet. you have fourth period with me and lucy, and fifth with joe." rami then took the paper, looking at it. "dude, we have second period together and i didn't even notice." he laughed before handing it back to the blonde. "you're going to have a lot of fun at east hills, i can promise you that." gwil spoke which in turn, prompted lucy to swat her hand at him. "don't scare him, he hasn't even been here a full day yet." ben laughed at that. "it seems a lot of fun." he replied. 

the lunch period went by with nonstop jokes from everyone, shit talking, and ben getting integrated into the group. it wasn't long before he learned that gwil's full name was gwilym, that joe had a deep obsession for cooking shows, and that he was going to be fitting in just fine here. ben had gotten everyone's phone number, and was added to the group chat which was in turn titled 'dick suckers.' he shook his head at the name, letting out a laugh. he was in his fifth period with joe when his phone buzzed in his pocket. he pulled it out, checking it under the table.

gwilym: dudes do you wanna hang out at mine after school?  
lucy: thats cool i just gotta go home and walk my dog then ill be over.  
joe: yeah im down  
gwilym: i'll assume rami's coming if luce is, what about ben  
ben: i might be able to, let me check

ben opened the text thread between him and his mother, typing out the quick text message. he debated over what to say for a couple of minutes, before finally sending her the message. he 

ben: hey ma, i made some friends and got invited to hang out with them after school today, is that ok?  
mom: i guess, just make sure your homework is done! and send me the address!

after he got the text ben opened the other thread back up. he sent a gif of a thumbs up before texting a quick 'yeah i can.' he looked up, seeing joe looking at him. he gave a little wave before smiling as he got one back. he felt his phone buzz again and looked down, seeing that gwilym had texted him outside of the groupchat.

gwilym: i'm driving, but if you have your car you can drive it too.  
ben: nah, i don't have it here  
gwilym: you can walk with joe to mine after today ends

ben stuck his phone back into his pocket, wondering if his friends, if he could even call him that, knew that he was only fifteen. they already knew that he was a junior, but most juniors were sixteen about to turn seventeen, or already seventeen. he figured that they thought he was probably fifteen already. he then got to work copying the notes on the board, it was the first day of class and he really didn't want to get left behind. he would feel stupid asking to copy somebody's already. ben shifted his feet back and forth before he, yet again, felt his phone buzz in his pocket. he pulled it out, looking to see that it was a text from joe this time.

joe: can u pls shoot me. i deadass can't sit through this lecture any more.

ben looked at the clock, seeing there was only fifteen minutes left of the day. he quickly typed a text out, before replying back to joe. 

ben: only 15 minutes left, should i catch a life sentence for 15 minutes  
joe: damn, u aint a real one. a real one woulda already done it cause they knew i was suffering.  
ben: shucks, u caught me :/

instead of stuffing his phone into his pocket where he knew he was going to have to just get it out again, ben sat it down on his lap and continued copying the notes that the teacher was writing onto the board when the bell rang. he closed his notebook and dropped it and his pencil into his bag. he watched as kids stood up and all but ran out of the room. he zipped his bag up and stood up, grabbing his phone to make sure it didn't fall on the floor. he put his bag over his shoulder, looking up in an attempt to find joe. "come on, blondie." he heard from his left. he looked over to see joe smiling at him. he walked out of the classroom, two steps behind his new friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading!


	2. because of you i might think twice

after making it through the motions of the week, it was currently saturday. ben laid in his bed, texting the group chat. he had taken a note from joe and decided to start watching chopped. he was currently binging it and was on his fifth episode of the day when his phone rang. he looked at it to see that joe was calling him. "hey blondie, gwil and i are going to the mall, do you want to come?" both of ben's parents were at work and his sister was still sleeping. "yeah i do, just let me get ready. i'll text you guys my address."

ben texted his address to joe, before he reluctantly paused his show. it was currently on the second round and he wanted to know which two were going to be competing in the final round. he turned his tv off before getting up, heading into his bathroom. after getting ready, he walked down to the kitchen, grabbing a cheese stick and a bottle of water. he sent a quick text to his mom telling her where he was going to be, which of course lead to more prompting about who he was going with, if it was a date, and if he needed some money transferred into his account. ben, of course, wasn't going to say no.

a few minutes later his phone vibrated with a text. he read it and saw that joe and gwil were outside. he grabbed his house key and his wallet, stuffing them in the pocket of his hoodie. he walked out of the house, not expecting to see joe driving and gwil in the passenger's seat. "hey blondie." he heard as he got into the car, buckling himself up. he hadn't ever been in the car when joe was driving and didn't exactly want to be thrown out of the window. "dude, when did you get your license?" ben asked, curious. joe just held up the little piece of paper that served as an id until the plastic one came in the mail. "organ donor? wow i'm so proud." he joked before joe rolled his eyes. "if i die, you're not getting any of mine." 

after countless songs that were sung at the top of their lungs, joe pulled into a parking space at the mall. "alright now boys, when you get in this mall you better not make me look bad." gwil turned in his seat, wagging his finger in the air like a mom. "damnit, i don't know if i can go in now." ben joked, laughing as joe rolled his eyes, yet again. "if you keep rolling them, they're going to get stuck like that." "oh fuck off, blondie"

the trio was currently in journey's looking for a pair of shoes. ben held a pair of white slip ons in his hand, deciding between those and the high tops. he got the worker to bring him both, before deciding that he couldn't decide. "fuck it, i'm just gonna get both." he declared. "damn, you aint have to flex on us like that. where are your airpods?" gwil joked. "they're at home." ben replied, laughing as it was gwil's turn to tell him to fuck off. 

sitting in the food court, ben was currently drinking a smoothie while both gwilym and joe ate some nachos. "so how are you liking east hills so far?" gwilym asked, looking over at ben. "it's alright i guess. i just wish i knew why everybody wants my snapchat just to send a black screen with the word streak on it." ben was honestly confused about it. why would you want a streak with people you didn't actually have conversations with? "but there's been a few cute girls who have added me so that's pretty cool." ben took another sip of his smoothie before setting it down. he figured he was fitting pretty well into the high school experience. he hadn't been to a party yet, or gotten stabbed, or gotten a girl pregnant like he had seen in degrassi. 

"you're just turning into mr. popular over here, aren't you." joe let out a laugh, while ben shook his head. "people only know me because i'm new." he shrugged it off. he didn't want to say that he was popular, considering he had always seen in shows to hate people who are like that. people who have everybody in the school feigning over them, dying to get a few seconds to talk to them. ben didn't want that at all. he wanted everyone to feel like they could talk to him. 

"i don't really like it, i mean i already have the best friends in the world." he said, laughing as gwil put his hand to his heart and let out an 'awe.' ben flipped him off before laughing. "you guys fucking suck, i take back my compliment." ben said, causing joe to throw at chip at him. "is it cool if we go to the record store? i need more vinyls for my wall." ben asked. "god, you're such a hipster. do you even have a record player?" gwil asked, laughing at the sight of ben shrinking slightly in his chair. "i just like the way they look ok. let me live my life a tumblr hipster." ben argued. "where are your glasses and septum piercing?" joe joked. "my mom would absolutely slaughter me if i got a septum piercing and they're at home, i usually just wear contacts."

"dude, that girl is staring at you." gwil said, causing ben to look up from his phone. he looked over to see that a girl, was in fact, staring at him. he waved, watching as she turned around quickly once she realized she had been caught. he chuckled before going back to his phone only to have his shoulder shoved. "dude, go talk to her. it's obvious that she likes you." ben shook his head. "she probably wasn't even looking at me, besides i'm not interested in being in a relationship with anyone in the near future." "it doesn't even have to be a relationship, just fuck her." 

"that's not me. i catch feelings way too fast to do any of that shit." ben wasn't a virgin, having lost it when he was fourteen. it was pretty stupid actually, but he didn't necessarily regret it. he had gone to soccer camp for the summer, and there was this cute girl and then things led to other things and next thing he knew he wasn't a virgin anymore. he was stuck on her for a really long time, but had finally gotten over it. 

the three made their way through the mall, headed to the record store. ben was going to teach the other two about the magic of vinyls. he'd be damned before the three of them left without getting at least one vinyl. walking into the store, ben held his arms out, spinning around to look at joe and gwil. "boys, welcome to my home." joe let out a laugh, shaking his head. "you're a dumbass." 

headed to the back of the store where all the vinyls were kept, ben began to flip through them. he looked at the labels, seeing that he was in the alternative section before he pulled out a copy of 'a fever you can't sweat out.' he had been waiting for this was to come in for a while. he held it under his arm, heading down to the rock section. he stood next to joe, flipping through the copies in front of him. "have you seen any that you like?" ben asked, flipping through his own. he found an ac/dc one and grabbed that, holding it with his panic! at the disco one. his music taste was all over the place and anyone who walked into his room would be able to see that. he flipped through, spotting a 'jazz' one. "dude, this has to be my favorite fucking band."

"who is queen?" joe asked while he looked over the vinyl in ben's hand, causing ben's mouth to gape. "you don't know who queen is?" ben asked, making sure that he heard correctly. joe only nodded. "oh my god. they're the best band in history. i'll play some of their music when we get back in the car. there's no way you haven't ever heard of them." ben honestly couldn't believe it. everyone he knew listened to queen, even if only occasionally. "maybe i have, i just didn't know that it was queen." ben had to give him that. if you had ever been to any kind of sports game at all you had most likely heard 'we are the champion's or 'we will rock you.' 

gwilym walked over to join the two, holding an ac/dc vinyl in his own hand. "good taste." ben joked, seeing as he was holding the same one. "damn, i think your taste is just as good." he joked back, before they decided they were done shopping. 

"joe, please be prepared to listen to the best music you've ever heard. i am about to bless your ear holes." ben spoke once they reached the car. he got in, grabbing the aux cord. he plugged it into his phone, pressing play on the song he had queued for the past five minutes. the beginning chant of "is this the real life, is this just fantasy" started to blare from the speakers, filling the empty spaces in the car. the piano line started, causing ben's head to start to nod slowly to the beat. this, of course, had to be one of ben's favorite queen songs. he knew it was one of the most popular but it was for good reason. it showed the versatility of the band that he loved so much. 

"mama! oooooh" he sang out, along with freddie mercury which caused joe and gwil to laugh. he continued to sing along, changing his voice from high to low to match with the 'galileo' parts. after the song had finished, ben was properly worn out. he sat back down in his seat, playing 'i want to break free', just a bit quieter. "so, do you feel like your life has a purpose now?" ben asked, leaning up between the two seats in the front of the car. "i actually really liked it. you'll definitely have to show me more sometime." joe said and ben took that as a clear victory. he had showed his friends the magic of queen and honestly nothing could beat that. 

the car stopped outside of his house, and he grabbed his bags from beside him. "thanks. i'll see you guys monday if we don't do anything tomorrow." ben said, shutting the door after he heard the agreements from his friends. he walked inside the house, shutting the door behind him. he honestly just wanted to spend the rest of the day watching chopped, curious to see how his episode ended. he walked up to his room, setting his bags down onto his dresser. he would deal with those later. a few minutes later there was a knock at his door. "come in!" he called, seeing the door open and his little sister appear in front of him. "what's up, sky?" he asked. "are you gay?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for all the support on my story! i honestly thought it would get none. it means the world to me
> 
> but i promise we're going to get into the hardzello pretty soon.


	3. you can bring the fire

ben sat up in his bed, not knowing what to say. to be honest he hadn't really thought about it. "it's okay if you are, you're still my big brother." skyler spoke, sitting down on ben's bed. "i don't think so. i know i like girls. i just think i might like guys, too." ben felt a weight lifted off his chest, feeling like he had just figured another piece of himself out. "cool. now i can talk about cute guys with you." skyler squealed. "god you're stupid." he laughed at his sister. it was something serious, but she knew how to make ben feel like it didn't matter at all. "so do you think jake gyllenhall is cute?" ben kicked his sister off of his bed. "god, get out." ben shook his head, laughing at his sister. "love you!" she called as she walked out of his bedroom. 

ben thought about it, wondering how he really felt. he had been attracted to guys before but really didn't think anything about it. his parents were, luckily, super liberal and most likely wouldn't be upset that their son liked men and women. ben wanted to be entirely sure, but he wasn't going to just ask a random guy to make out with him. he opened up his text messages, opening the thread with gwil.

ben: so um quick question  
gwil: whats up  
ben: how did you know you were bi  
gwil: made out with a guy at basketball camp why?  
ben: just askinggg

ben tossed his phone down on the bed beside him, groaning. he didn't know what to do. the chopped intro started on his screen and ben decided not to worry about anything for a minute. he was almost finished with the fourth episode of this binge session before he heard the bell ring. he was too lazy to get out of bed, and knew his sister was definitely way too nosy to just let the door go unanswered. about a minute later his thoughts were confirmed when he heard skyler yell "ben!" he groaned, getting up out of his bed before walking downstairs. "some guy named gwilym is at the door for you." 

once skyler moved out of the way, ben walked to the front door. "hey gwil. what's up?" he asked. next thing he knew, gwil's hands were on his cheeks and his lips were on ben's own. ben let out a gasp, before kissing his new found friend back. a bit later, gwilym pulled away. "you bi?" he asked, ben nodded almost immediately. "yep."

"cool, anyways i'm glad you know now. but don't get your hopes up pretty boy, i have quite a thing for carmen." ben nodded, letting out a laugh. "thank you for your service." gwil put his hand to his head in a salute, laughing. "i'll see you monday." with that, the tall boy turned around, walking back to his car. ben shut the door and turned around to see his sister standing at the bottom of the stairs now. "did you just kiss a really cute guy?" ben nodded and winced as her sister screamed the loudest he had ever heard her scream before. "dude, chill. we're just friends." his sister raised an eyebrow at him. "guys don't just come to the house to kiss me because we're just friends." "well that's because you're ugly, sky."

he heard the garage door open, knowing that his mom was home. his dad would be home in the next hour. he figured now would be as good of a time to tell her as any other. "hey ma, how was your day?" he asked, as she walked into the house. "it was good, how was yours?" "it was alright, can we talk?" his mother set down the groceries she had in her hand, probably their dinner for tonight. "yeah, of course." ben took a deep breath, sitting down on one of the stools in their kitchen before he began to speak. "so, i just wanted to say that i'm bisexual." ben let out the breath he didn't even know he was holding. his mom let out a laugh, opening up the package of steak. "that's all?" she asked and ben looked at her like she had three heads. 

"honey, i already knew. i'm pretty sure we've known since you were in first grade and used to kiss your justin timberlake poster's before you went to bed." ben cringed at the memory. "so you're not mad?" his mother shook her head. "i don't think i could ever be mad for my child telling me about how they really are." ben wanted to thank his lucky stars. it definitely wasn't as bad as he thought it was going to be. he walked up to his mom, giving her one of the biggest hugs he could. "do you think you could tell dad for me. i just don't think i can?" "of course, i'll talk to him before bed tonight." 

ben walked back upstairs, a new bounce in his step. that whole conversation had gone much smoother than he thought it would. he knew it wouldn't be a huge deal in this household, but he didn't expect his mother to tell him that she already knew that he liked boys in some degree. he walked into his room, shutting the door behind him. he fell back into his bed, snuggling into the warm covers while his new favorite show continued to play on the tv.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is short, but i needed to spill some tea in it.
> 
> thank you for all of your nice comments!   
> the kudos are also very much appreciated  
> (we love validation 'round here)


	4. surrounding all my surroundings

the fifth period bell rang, signalling that the day was over with. he pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose and looked over at joe. "we still chilling at your house?" ben asked, getting a nod from joe. 

"yeah, gwil has basketball practice so he can't come. lucy and rami are also spending a "couple's day", whatever the fuck that is, so it'll just be us together." joe informed, prompting a nod from ben.  
"did you bring your car or do we have to walk?" ben asked.  
"it was cold as fuck this morning, i wasn't walking for shit." the ginger joked before he headed out of the class with ben right beside him.

after a drive where ben thought he was going to lose his life on three separate occasions, they arrived at joe's house. "dude, why did i not know that your house was fucking huge? it's practically a mansion." ben asked.  
"that's a great way to introduce myself, right? hey i'm joe, i have a huge house 'cause my family is quite loaded." ben couldn't help but laugh.  
"well now that you say that, you might be right."

the boys walked into the house when a high pitched voice interrupted their current conversation about their biology teacher. "joe! how was school?" ben heard the voice getting closer before an older woman appeared out from the doorway that ben assumed lead to the kitchen with the way she was wearing an apron. "oh i'm sorry! i didn't know you had company."  
"it's fine, mom. this is ben." ben waved his hand slightly, not really feeling comfortable when he was meeting people for the first time.  
"is he staying for dinner?" joe's mom asked causing joe to look over at ben, signalling that it was his decision.  
ben nodded, along with an "i'd love to, ms. mazzello." 

"if you go up the stairs, my room is the third door on the left. i'm just gonna grab some food from the kitchen." joe prompted, and ben nodded. he walked up the stairs, heading into joe's room.  
"is this the cute on you were talking about?" ben heard joe's mom ask, stopping ben in his tracks as he was almost at the top of the stairs.  
"jesus christ, mom."

a few minutes later joe walked into the bedroom with a few water bottles and two bags of chips. "i didn't know if you wanted cheetos or doritos so i got both." joe said, tossing one of the water bottles to his friend. "can we watch chopped?" ben asked after taking a sip from the water bottle.  
"a man after my heart." joe laughed as he grabbed the remote, starting the show. 

after a few episodes and of course a cheeto fight, ben and joe were both laying on the bed, currently invested in the episode that was on. they had a wager going, ben wanted the woman with the bright purple hair to win and joe wanted the guy with the hello kitty bicep tattoo to win. the loser had to dye their hair the color of the loser's choice. the last part of the competition was going and it seemed like it was pretty close. the boys were both on the edge of the bed, ben cheering as he saw that it was his girl who had won the competition. he got up from the edge of the bed, doing a little dance as he watched as joe just stuck up his middle finger. 

a trip to walmart, a box of bleach, and a box of hair dye later and both of the boys were in the bathroom. joe sat on the edge of the sink, situated between ben's legs. they had just washed the bleach out of his hair, laughing at how different he looked with his hair blonde. "you're copying my style. i'll deliver the letter for my lawsuit tomorrow." joe just laughed, shaking his head along with a mutter of how stupid his friend was. 

ben grabbed the hair dye from the box, mixing it with the activator. he shook it, waiting a few minutes for it to get all mixed in. "alright mr. mazzello, are you ready for this?" he asked, laughing as his friend took a deep breath.  
"i did lose the bet, didn't i?"

pouring some of the dye onto joe's head, and some of it into his hands. he started moving the dye through joe's hair, making sure that all the strands were covered in the dye. ben finished, taking his gloves off. he looked at joe, a smile on his face. "you're going to look like a troll doll." ben told him. joe rolled his eyes before he set both of his hands on ben's hips. "i know better now than to make a bet with you." 

ben took his gloves off, tossing them in the trash. he still stood in the same spot, joe's hands still on his hips when he put one of the plastic shower caps over his friends head. he opened up his snapchat, recording a video of joe. he posted it on his story with the caption 'we love bets.' he set his phone back down, looking up to see that joe was already looking at him. "what?" he asked, before feeling joe's lips on his own. 

he moved his hands, placing one of the back of joe's neck and the other on his shoulder. they kissed slow and sweet, nothing but cute passion in the kiss. after a few minutes of the kiss, joe pulled away. ben moved his hands, a slight blush resting on his cheeks. "so that was fun." joe finally said.

ben nodded. "yeah, wanna do it again?"

after more kisses than necessary, and the sink stained a light pink color, joe's hair was officially dyed.  
"god i look fucking great." the now pink haired boy joked while posing in the mirror.  
"you look like that one video of samuel l. jackson doing the beez in the trap cover." joe laughed, shoving at ben.  
joe put on his deepest voice, obviously trying to impersonate jackson before speaking. "i'm sick and tired of these mother fucking snakes on this mother fucking plane."

"you're so stupid." ben laughed, shaking his head.  
"yeah, but i'm cute though."  
ben rolled his eyes. "the pink hair really helps."

after joe's hair was dried, the two were back in joe's bed. his head laying on joe's stomach. they had decided to take a break from watching chopped and were currently watching brooklyn nine-nine. joe had never seen it before and ben was determined to make him fall in love with jake peralta the way he had. joe had taken a liking to amy however, and they decided that they were going to be jake and amy for halloween the next month. 

"boys! dinner's ready." ms. mazzello yelled and both joe and ben got up from the bed. they walked downstairs, headed into the kitchen. "jesus christ, joe. what did you do to your hair?" she asked. ben couldn't help but giggle at her question. "i lost a bet." he answered, shrugging it off.

"do you need any help, mrs. mazzello?" ben asked, trying his best to be a polite house guest.  
"oh no honey! thank you so much, though."

throughout the whole dinner, ben laughed at all of the stories he was told about baby joe. he learned about how joe broke his arm trying to sneak out of the house just to chase the ice cream truck after his mom told him no, or how he chipped his front tooth because he wanted to try to skateboard. ben couldn't stop laughing the whole dinner. 

after dinner and a few more episodes of brooklyn nine-nine joe drove him back home. they, of course, kissed before they left. ben couldn't wipe the smile off of his face even if somebody offered to pay him to. he walked into the house, seeing his dad sitting on the couch. "hey dad." he spoke, going to sit next to him. "so, boys huh?" his dad asked, causing ben to blush before nodding. "girls too, but boys, yeah." 

"that's okay. just means i can actually hit them if they break your heart."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you to the comment on the last chapter for helping with the formatting! you guys let me know if it's easier to read now!


	5. waiting for the morning to begin

"so bitches, i'm throwing a party on friday." lucy spoke, once she reached the table for lunch. "my parents are leaving to go visit my aunt in maryland this weekend and are taking my little brother and sister with them." she finished. ben didn't have any plans this weekend, even though he knew his mother would have never have let him go to a party. he would just say he was hanging out with his friends, which wasn't necessarily a lie. ben looked over at joe, knowing that if he was going that ben would go also. "yeah, we're down." joe spoke.

the week went by fast and the next thing ben knew was that it was eight o'clock on friday night. the party didn't start until eleven but he was going to be there at nine to help set everything up. gwilym was sitting on his bed, helping him figure out what to wear. "i could wear this jacket with the black jeans and my queen shirt." he spoke, picking out the outfit to show his friend.

"the dark blue jeans with the holes in the knees make your ass look the best. wear that with the ac/dc shirt, and your boots." gwil spoke, picking out the outfit. ben changed, before looking at himself in the mirror. 

"god, i look like one of those misunderstood teens on tumblr." ben told gwil, turning around to look at his ass in the mirror. "you were right about how my butt looked in these jeans, though."

after ben got dressed, and fixed his hair he slipped his phone and his wallet into his pocket. "let's do this thing." he and gwil got up, yelling out a goodbye to his mom before leaving. the two drove to lucy's house, seeing rami and joe's cars outside of the house. gwil parked on the street and the two grabbed the few groceries they had gotten for the party from the back of the car. 

"babies! i'm home." gwil called out as he walked into the house. lucy was currently pouring chips into bowls. it was about an hour before the party started, and you could see that she was trying to keep herself from worrying too much. 

an hour later, everything was done. the music had already started playing and there was more alcohol than ben had ever been around in his life. he was sipping on a cup of jack and coke, with much more soda than alcohol. more and more people started to file in, and before he knew it ben winded up on the couch in the basement. he was surrounded by people, all sitting in a circle. a few people had pulled blunts of of their pockets. 

ben had never smoked before but wasn't going to say no. the blunts all went into rotation, and there was no more than thirty seconds between where ben didn't have a blunt in his hand. he coughed his fucking lungs, basically dying as he took an especially large hit. he shoved joe as he laughed at him. ben laid his head on joe's shoulder. he hummed quietly.

"i want to watch chopped." he whined, looking over at joe from next to him. 

"hey luce, we're going to go upstairs." joe informed her, before he stood up. he grabbed ben's hand in his and helped him stand up, one hand on his hip as he walked up the stairs behind the younger boy. 

"there's condoms in the drawer." rami joked, gasping playfully as joe raised his middle finger up.

"i feel so light." ben spoke quietly as if he was afraid if he was too loud he would wake someone up. the music was still blaring throughout the house. he had heard the song a few times before, just knowing that it was some rap song that talked about how big some girl's ass was. 

the stairs took much longer than they should have, but pretty soon the two were in lucy's room. joe shut the door, now making the music turn into more of a dull beat. he kicked his shoes off, laying down on the bed. "come lay with me." he said, sticking his arms out for the blonde boy. 

"take my shoes off for me, i can't do it right now." ben asked, putting one of his feet in the air. 

"c'mere." joe spoke, a smile on his face at how cute ben was.

ben's boots sat on the ground, right next to joe's vans and the two were in bed. ben laid with his head on joe's chest, their legs tangled together. "dude you're so fucking comfortable." ben spoke, one of his hands moving up to the top of joe's head to play in his hair. 

"why thank you, mr. hardy." joe joked, arm hooked around ben's waist. 

ben watched the television, completely engrossed in the show. joe rubbed his hand up and down ben's back. before the first episode ended, both of the boys were sound asleep. 

the next morning ben woke up. he sat up, seeing joe sprawled out on the bed between him. "did we?-" he questioned before looking down to see himself fully dressed, he then looked at joe to see that he was fully dressed too. 

"thank fucking god." he whispered, letting out a deep breath. he didn't want the first time taking something up his ass to be when he was cross faded at his first high school party.

ben played on his phone, waiting for joe to wake up. about an hour later, he heard a yawn next to him and he looked over, seeing joe looking up at him. 

"well good morning, seemed like you were never going to wake up." ben joked. 

"oh shut up." joe spoke, before he pulled ben closer to him by his shirt before kissing him.

"dude, your morning breath is terrible." ben informed, pulling back after the kiss.

"didn't stop you from sticking your tongue in my mouth." joe shot back. 

ben didn't have an argument for that one. 

"are you coming back to mine?" joe asked, to which ben nodded. he had already told his mom that he was going to be spending the night out, so she wasn't worried. ben got up from the bed, grabbing his boots. he was too lazy to put them on, knowing he was just going to be taking them off again when he got to joe's house. he checked the time on his phone, seeing that it was only 8 in the morning. 

ben followed joe downstairs, watching as he grabbed a sticky note from mr. boynton's desk and wrote 'be back at 3 to help clean.' before sticking it to lucy's forehead. the girl was currently passed out on the couch, and ben knew she probably wasn't going to wake up anytime soon. 

the two got back to joe's house, ben riding on joe's back because the grass was still dewy and he didn't want to get his socks wet. the two made their way upstairs, joe dropping ben down onto his bed. he walked to the closet, grabbing out a hoodie and a pair of shorts before tossing them at ben. "i know you're not going to be comfortable in those jeans."

for the rest of the day joe and ben laid in bed. they talked about nothing, shared kisses, and watched brooklyn nine nine. at three they went back to lucy's house. everyone was already up. they just weren't doing anything yet considering they hadn't eaten and were all sporting pretty bad hangovers. "let's order chinese food and get this shit cleaned up." lucy said. they ordered way more chinese food than any of them could have eaten. after finishing their lunch, lucy plugged her phone into the stereo. 

big black trash bags were handed to everyone and the cleaning was commenced. ben was responsible for the living room and the kitchen. there was more solo cups than he had ever seen in one place in his life. he finished the living room, his bag about half full. he finished the kitchen, and checked the time on his phone. he didn't even realize that it had been three hours that the group had spent cleaning up. the vacuum turned off upstairs and lucy leaned over the banister, speaking to everyone else. 

"i'm buying dinner as a thanks." she spoke. nobody opened up their mouth to complain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i saw captain marvel last night (and sat beside a cute guy so 10/10) and it was amazing, and then this morning i had to go to the hospital so sorry this chapter is a little late.


	6. try to save you

"rami, i promise that if you help me do this, then i will never ask you for another favor." ben asked, needing help getting dressed. joe and him were going on their first official date tonight and ben was nervous. he had literally hung out with joe too many times to count, but none of them were an actual date. joe had asked him a few days earlier after they had gone to get lunch together, all cute with his ears tinged red with his nervousness. 

"you literally said the same thing last week when you asked me for help with your history project." ben opened the door to his closet, looking through all of his clothes. they were all fine, except when he had to go on a date with joe. 

"you know that i couldn't be bothered enough to care about all of that shit in history but you should do it because you love me, rami." ben pleaded. he just wanted to look his best, and he couldn't be bothered by trying to hide it. 

"i promise that you could wear a trash bag and joe would still lose his breath." ben couldn't help but roll his eyes, despite his cheeks turning rosy. he was honestly whipped for joe and nothing was going to change that. he just wanted to make sure that joe still liked him. 

"do you know what we're going to do?" joe wouldn't tell ben what the date was going to consist of and ben was basically interrogating all of his friends to find out what it was but they were sworn to secrecy by joe. 

"i would tell you, but i'd rather not die tonight." rami answered, causing ben to roll his eyes. "now can you pick out your outfit so i can go home and watch the new episode of drag race?" 

after they had picked out an outfit, ben felt like he looked okay. he was dressed in a simple pair of jeans, and a dark blue button down shirt along with a pair of vans. ben didn't want to dress like he was going to church, but still wanted to look like he cared. rami had left and ben was alone to figure out how he should do his hair. he had gotten a haircut the day before, wanting to look as good as possible. 

ben finished getting ready, spraying some of his cologne on himself. he paced around his room, before he heard the doorbell ring. he already told everybody not to answer the door, considering that if anyone else did they would keep them here, telling joe stories about all the stupid shit that ben had done when he was younger. ben rushed downstairs, thankful that nobody had answered the door yet before he took a deep breath once he stopped. he checked his outfit one last time before opening the front door. "hi." he spoke, almost losing his breath at how joe looked in front of him. he was dressed in an outfit similar to ben's, dressed in a button down and a pair of jeans, but he had a tie on too. 

"you look great." joe breathed out, looking over ben. "i got these for you." he said, holding out a bouquet of flowers to ben. "they're gorgeous, thank you." ben smiled, grabbing them before taking them and placing a kiss on joe's cheek. 

"let me put these in water and then we can go." ben walked into the kitchen, grabbing a vase from the cabinet. he filled it about halfway with water before he placed the flowers into it. he walked back to the front door, looking over at joe. 

"can you tell me where we're going now? i'm pretty sure i've annoyed just about everyone with how much i've been asking." joe laughed, shaking his head at ben's words.

"i would if i could, but i can't so i shan't." joe informed. "now come on so we can go." joe took ben's hand in his, holding onto it tightly. 

ben got into the passenger's seat, tapping his fingers on the dashboard in front of him. he sung along quietly, noticing on how joe had put queen's music on. he decided not to tease joe about it, finding it super fucking cute.

"we're going roller skating?" ben asked, just looking over to see joe nod. ben hadn't been roller skating in forever and was actually meaning to go. he hadn't remembered talking about it with joe, but he was glad that joe had taken him here. 

"this is going to be so much fun." ben declared. "but if i fall and you laugh at me i might just punch you in your neck." ben laughed and joe held his hands up in defense. 

"i honestly don't think i'm going to be any better than you would be." joe said, before he got out of the car. the two of them walked into the roller rink, ben already nodding his head along to the music that was playing through the loud speaker. they were playing some 80's songs, and ben was ready to skate. the two of them got their skates, sitting down to switch their shoes into the skates. ben stood up, his hands waving in the air as he tried to steady himself. 

joe couldn't help but laugh at ben. after he slipped his own skates on, he stood up. he got his balance pretty quickly. there wasn't too many people there, considering it was five o'clock on a wednesday. ben skated around once, getting used to the feeling again after not having skated in so long. once he came around again, he laughed as joe carefully started to skate. he skated next to him, holding his hand out. joe took ben's hand, interlocking their fingers before the two skated around the rink. time after time by cyndi lauper was playing through the speakers, and the two boys skated to the tune of it. ben sung along loudly, making joe laugh at how bad it sounded. 

after about an hour and a half of skating, joe and ben decided that they were both hungry. they took their skates off and handed them back to the guy to get their shoes back. they put them back on before walking back to the car. "is there anywhere specific you want to eat?" joe asked. 

"you're the one who asked me on this date, sir. you are the one who get to decide." ben joked. "it really doesn't matter to me where, as long as we can go there together." he finished. 

"i swear to god you're so fucking gay sometimes." it wasn't like he was lying either. 

the two of them ate, stopping at a wing place. they ate what seemed like half of their body weight in wings but neither of them were complaining after eating, they got ice cream. 

"what kind of basic bitch gets vanilla with no toppings?" joe asked, laughing as ben licked at his ice cream cone. he didn't want to speak on how good he looked when he was eating the ice cream, considering that it wasn't really first date material. 

"it's better than strawberry ice cream. that shit is disgusting." ben had no problem sharing his opinion. joe feigned ignorance, just wanting to enjoy his strawberry ice cream. ice cream was an important subject to ben, and he wasn't going to let his opinion go unheard. ben shook his head, taking another lick of his ice cream. 

the two had finished their ice cream and just talked about anything and everything. that's what ben liked about joe, it seemed like they were never out of things to talk about. "are you ready to head back?" joe asked. 

"i have to dish to skyler about everything that happened, so it would probably be best." ben couldn't help but smile at the way joe laughed. his little sister had made him promise that he was going to spill whatever happened as soon as he got home. knowing how his family worked, it was going to be the same with his mother. they honestly lived for gossip. 

joe took ben back home, walking him to the front step. he scratched the back of his neck as they stood on the front porch. "so, i was just wonering, if you, wanted to be my boyfriend." he asked, looking down at the blonde boy. ben didn't answer, just putting one of his hands on the back of joe's neck, pulling him down so their lips could meet. the two of them kissed, before ben pulled away. "i would love to be your boyfriend." joe couldn't stop the big smile from spreading across his face even if he tried. 

"i'll see you tomorrow?" joe asked his new boyfriend. 

"you definitely will." 

ben walked into his house, shutting the door behind him. as soon as he was finished his mom and sister came out of the kitchen. "so, tell us exactly what happened." the two spoke at the exact same time. 

"it honestly was amazing. he took me roller skating and then we went and ate wings and then ice cream. then he sort of, kind of, asked me to be his boyfriend." at that, both skyler and ms. hardy squealed like they were both thirteen years old. "oh my god, you guys are so annoying." ben spoke, rolling his eyes. 

"invite him to dinner tomorrow night. i want to formally meet him." ben's mom said.

"can you invite that cute one too? the tall one?" skyler asked and ms. hardy gave her a look, causing her to shut up. 

"i'll invite him, but only if you promise to make your lasagna." after ben's mom promised, he walked upstairs. he took off his clothes, before he put on a pair of gym shorts and the hoodie that joe had given him. he set his phone down, facetiming the boy. 

"what's up, blondie?" joe asked, once he answered the call. 

"my mom wants you to come and eat dinner tomorrow, is that cool?" 

"yeah, i'm down with that. wait, are you wearing glasses?" joe asked, looking over ben. he didn't know why it took him so long to notice. 

"i took my contacts out." ben informed, looking over at joe. 

"wear them tomorrow at school. the way you look in them makes my dick hard."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much for all the support. it's honestly amazing. it means so much to me.
> 
> (also i go back to college tomorrow, so the chapters will probably be more spaced out)


	7. not taking prisoners tonight

"why did i let you guys talk me into waking up this early?" ben asked, pushing his glasses up on the bridge of his nose. it was currently five in the morning, and it was so early that the birds weren't even chirping yet. joe wrapped his arm around his boyfriend's waist, pressing a kiss on his cheek. it wasn't easy to get his mom to say yes, but after convincing from joe, who she had essentially fallen in love with over their dinner the other night, and the promise that he was going to turn his location on in their message thread along with a phone call every night, she had let ben go. 

"you let us talk you into it because you love all of our dumbasses." rami spoke, shoving his bag in the back of the suv that his parents had rented for them to take to the beach. it was about a four hour drive, and all of them were going to drive for an hour, except ben because he was too young to get his license, which of course caused all the other's to tease him about his age all the time. 

ben tossed his duffel bag into the trunk, shutting it once he realized everyone had already put their stuff into it. joe was sitting in the back row of the car, ben crawling over the middle seat to get back. he laid down, laying his head on joe's lap. he knew that once joe started playing in his hair he was going to fall asleep, which is exactly what happened. 

a while later joe shook ben, laughing as he popped one of his eyes opened. "we there yet?" ben asked, stretching his arms out with a yawn. "yeah, you slept the whole trip. i'm surprised you didn't wake up when i had to drive." ben wasn't necessarily a hard sleeper, unless he had to wake up at four in the morning to get ready for a road trip to the beach with his friends. 

ben got out of the car, basically clinging to joe. he was almost like a koala when he was sleepy, just hanging onto whatever person he could find. he grabbed his duffle bag, slinging the strap over his shoulder. he looked up at the hotel, seeing just how tall it really was. "holy shit, imagine jumping off of that." ben whispered, still looking up. 

"so ben's not allowed on the balcony." joe called out, laughing. ben hit his chest, rolling his eyes at his boyfriend. it was weird to him that he could call joe his boyfriend now. if you would have told ben a year ago that he was dating a guy named joe, who he had met at his public school, and had the best group of friends in the world, he would have looked at you as if you were a straight up idiot. it was, however, how his life was actually going now and he couldn't be more grateful. 

they had gotten a suite, one that had three bedrooms. it was perfect. lucy and rami would stay in one, joe and ben would stay in one, and then gwil would have his own. sometimes ben felt bad for gwil, considering how he was always surrounded by couples but then when he realized that gwil was essentially a hoe, and not being in a relationship was his own choice. 

the group checked in, getting their room keys before they all took the elevators up to the eleventh floor. the hotel had twenty, and once they got off, they all made their way to the suite. rami was the first to walk in, looking all around the place where they would lay their heads for the next few days. there was a kitchenette, which most likely wouldn't be used at all. there were two bathrooms, and lucy and rami were lucky enough to get the room with the bathroom. 

joe walked into the bedroom first, dropping his bag on the bottom of his bed. the bed was big but he knew he and ben were only going to be taking up about half of it anyways. ben always ended up pressed up against joe in some way when they slept in the same bed together. ben followed after him, dropping his bag down on the floor. his life wasn't put together enough to actually put his clothes in the drawer so he was going to be living out of his duffle bag for the next few days. 

they all went into the living room, sitting on various pieces of furniture so they could plan out their day. it was decided that they would go to the beach, and then they would all split up and do their own thing that night. everyone made their way back to their rooms, getting ready. ben and joe had to be that headass couple, buying matching swim trunks just for the trip. they were simple, black with red and purple flowers. after slipping their feet into their flip flops, and joe grabbing about four bottles of suncreen they walked back into the living room to see gwil and rami sitting. "lucy's almost ready." rami spoke.

after lucy came out, the five of them made their way to the beach. it was a cool 85 degrees outside, which was perfect weather for the beach. joe sprayed himself as much as he could with the sunscreen. he was a pale ass ginger, not taking any chances. he didn't want to spend the trip miserable from being sunburnt. after getting ben to help him with the sunscreen on his back, the two made their way into the water. ben hadn't been to the beach in years, forgetting how fun being in the ocean was. he always had the fear that a shark was going to come and tear his leg off, but he figured that the chances were so minuscule that he shouldn't really be scared. 

the two boys played in the water, swimming around and splashing each other for a good hour before the others joined them in the water. they all swam around, just being stupid. after about two more hours, they went back to the shore. they laid down, wanting to tan. rami had, thankfully, brought a speaker to the beach and was currently playing post malone. for the next few hours, they all laid on the beach, listening to rami's music and the waves crashing against the shore before they called it a day. they were all a shade or two darker, and just tired. after getting back into their room and showering, ben plopped down on the bed, a yawn leaving his mouth. 

ben looked at the clock, seeing that it was five. they had been at the beach for about six hours. they were all going out to dinner at eight, so he had enough time to take a quick nap. with the promise that joe was going to wake him up at seven thirty, ben fell asleep. 

two hours later, he was awake and getting dressed. "should i wear the bright blue shirt, or the black one?" he asked, turning to look at joe who was sitting on the edge of the bed. 

"i like how the blue one looks on you." joe informed and that was all that ben needed to hear before he decided on that one. after he was finished getting ready everybody was ready to go. they had decided on something simple, just going to red robin for dinner. 

"today was so fun." gwil spoke at the table, causing everybody to agree. it was nice to get away from home and just have a weekend where they didn't have to worry about anything. it was nice that they also had monday off from school so they didn't have to rush home on sunday night to get back in time. the waitress came to order, joe seeming to be the only one that realized that she was making incredibly flirty eyes at ben. he didn't blame her, ben was fine as fuck, but ben was also his. joe wasn't the possessive type, considering that ben was a person and not an object that belonged to joe but it was so obvious that the girl wanted to swallow him whole, and that was, of course, joe's job. 

joe took ben's hand in his, interlocking their fingers before smiling to himself as the waitress' face fell. he proceeded to order his food. a few minutes later a different waitress brought them their drinks. 

the rest of the dinner was spent laughing, getting a noise complaint from the table next to theirs, and lots of food. after they paid, and made their way back to the hotel suite it was obvious that everyone was exhausted. they had all decided to wake up early to have enough time to go to the beach again and then go exploring the city. it wasn't big but it had a few boardwalks and a bunch of shops that they had wanted to go and look at. lucy and rami retreated to their bedroom first, followed by gwil making a joke about how he was going to need earplugs for the night since his room was right next to the couples. ben and joe followed suit, retiring for the night. they said their goodnight's to gwil, who was currently engrossed in an episode of american dad. 

ben got into the bed, having taken off his clothes except for his boxers, followed by joe. the two of them cuddled, feeling at their most peaceful. it was nice to have that feeling. the feeling that they were secure in each other and actually happy. it was a nice feeling and the two of them had no trouble sleeping that night, even with the slight sunburn joe had gotten despite all of the suncreen he had put on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i got this urge to go to the beach, so i'm living it out through my characters.


	8. build yourself a home

"joe you look like a fucking crackhead." ben spoke, laughing as his boyfriend danced in the kitchen. he honestly looked like he was dying, and it just made ben laugh even more. they had the speaker plugged up in the corner, and joe was dancing, if you could even call it that, to electric avenue. 

"we gon rock down to electric avenue!" joe sung out, spinning around. he was having the time of his life, just being stupid in the kitchen of the hardy house. 

"you guys are so ugly." ben heard skyler say from his left. he looked over, seeing her stand at the bottom of the staircase. she honestly looked like she was so over the whole ordeal already. "i just came to get a gogurt and i see this?" she joked. 

joe stopped dancing immediately, a blush on his cheeks at having been caught doing something embarrassing. ben wrapped his arms around joe's waist, laughing as skyler rolled her eyes. 

"i swear you cannot keep your hands off of each other for more than five seconds. that shit is gross." ben just stuck his tongue out, dealing with it in the most mature way.

"happy birthday, sky. how does it feel to finally be fourteen?" he asked. ben had only been fourteen a year and nine months ago, so it wasn't like he had forgotten about it."

"it feels so totally different from being thirteen." skyler spoke, words dripping with sarcasm. 

"anyways, you ready for us to embarrass you at your birthday dinner?" ben asked, laughing as skyler groaned. she was that kind of teenager who would die if people looked at her for more than ten seconds so making the staff of the restaurant sing happy birthday to skyler ever year was essentially torture to her. ben never got as good of a laugh as he did when he saw how mortified his sister became, though.

after skyler got her gogurt and retreated to her room, obviously scarred from what she had just seen, ben jumped onto the counter slightly so he was sitting on the edge of it. he felt joe stand between his legs and took both of his hands in his boyfriend's. "you looked super cute when you were dancing." ben informed. joe just rolled his eyes. a lot of that seemed to have been going on in this household lately. 

"if you say so." joe said, leaning closer to ben to kiss him. ben's hand moved to the back of joe's neck, holding him close while they just made out in ben's kitchen. they got lost in, not paying attention to anything but each other. joe's hands moved to grip ben's hips, pulling him impossibly closer. the two boys couldn't get enough of each other. 

the two jumped apart, both of their cheeks going incredibly pink as they heard someone clear their throat from in front of the boys. "oh, hey dad." ben spoke, rubbing the back of his neck. "didn't see you there." he continued, letting out an incredibly awkward laugh.

"joe, you're welcome to come with us to dinner tonight. we're just going to the cheesecake factory, if that's okay with you two." ben and joe didn't have any complaints about it. joe had only been with the whole family once before at the dinner his mom had asked him to, but ben figured that joe knew his family enough to know that they were definitely going to be embarrassing when they went out. when they first had dinner together, his dad had flat out asked if they were using protection together and ben almost had to get the heimlich from choking on his corn. 

about two hours later, they were all in the restaurant, sitting at a big booth near the back. while ben loved the food, the decor was always weird to him. he didn't know if it wanted to be like they were in india, or russia, or just some old ass looking country. it was strange looking, but the food more than made up for it. 

"so joe, have you thought any about college?" ben's dad asked. joe and ben had actually never talked about that before. ben looked over at joe, waiting for the answer. 

"yeah actually, i think i'm going to community college for the first two years and get my associate's in business before going to get my bachelor's." joe spoke out. ben had no idea that joe wanted to major in business, but he could see joe standing in a board room, dressed in a suit. he didn't want to think about getting bent over the office desk, but that thought just came naturally. 

ben hadn't really thought about school yet. he knew he was a junior in high school, and it was coming time to apply soon but he hadn't really figured out where he had wanted to go or what he wanted to do. he knew he wanted to help people, but that was such a broad term and there was so many ways to be able to do that. he knew he had time to think about it, but it also felt like the world was pressuring him to pick what he wanted to do. ben just didn't want to be stuck doing something he hated for the rest of his life.

the rest of the dinner went by normally, and it came time for everyone to order dessert. they all got their slice of cheesecake, and skyler looked super confused as she didn't get hers delivered by a group of singing waiters or with a happy birthday message at all. she didn't dare say anything, though. she figured that her father had just forgotten to ask them. ben kicked her foot slightly under the table and when she looked over at him, he mouthed out a simple "you're welcome."

the family finished dinner, skyler silently growing more and more worried with every passing second that her father was going to change his mine. she was relieved when the check was paid and their leftovers were bagged up so they could go home. they all left, skyler seeming in a slightly better mood than she had been all dinner. 

that night, after joe had left ben heard a knock on his door. "come in!" he called, watching as skyler walked back into the room. he remembered this from a few weeks ago, when his sister had asked him if he was gay. "what's up?" he asked, looking up from his phone. 

"did you really tell dad not to do the whole happy birthday thing?" she asked, looking over at her older brother. 

ben nodded, answering her question. "yeah, i told him that you were getting too old for it and just wanted to keep it lowkey." he knew that his sister was pretty anxious all the time and that amount of attention on her was just about the same as torture. 

"thank you so much." she spoke and ben could tell that she actually meant it. "it's no problem, just remember that when mom and dad ask you if i've said anything about what i want for my birthday in a few months." skyler laughed, shaking her head. she would however, if that meant that she got to get rides out of it. she definitely wasn't going to say no to having someone instead of her mom take her. 

"dude, you already know they're buying you a car but if you promise to take me to the mall sometimes, i'll drop in the hint that you've been wanting a camaro." ben knew his mom was probably thinking about something safer or something that didn't go as fast, but ben had his heart set out on a camaro. 

"i definitely promise." ben answered. "now go tell your friends about today and get out of my room." ben spoke, giving his sister a hug and wishing her a happy birthday before she left the room. ben immediately facetimed joe from his laptop, working on homework. he worked on his history essay that was due at the end of the week, listening to joe talk about how much he wanted to go see panic! when they came to town on their next tour. the tickets went on sale soon, and joe was determined to buy them. 

ben, accidentally, zoned out while he was looking for his resources, only coming back into focus when joe asked him if he was even paying attention. 

"sorry, this essay is just really stressing me out." ben admitted. he was never a big fan of the cold war period, finding it super boring. nobody did anything, and all it basically was, is a battle of 'who's going to press the big red button first.' ben, however, wasn't going to let his disinterest in an assignment get him a bad grade so he figured he would work on it little by little until it was due. he was already about halfway done when he was done for the day, he honestly couldn't have done any more if someone had paid him to do so. 

the two of them stayed up basically all night, just talking on facetime. they were both too stubborn to hang up and go to sleep, eventually falling asleep over the phone. when ben woke up in the morning and saw that the call was still going, he couldn't help the smile that made its way onto his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys! i updated my profile with all my socials in it! if you wanted to talk or be friends just message me on one of those! (don't be shy, i'm usually not an asshole) or drop yours in a comment and i'll message you!
> 
> also i'm back at school now so i'll try to keep updating as best as i can.


	9. take my precious time

joe slid on his jeans, running a hand through his hair before he pulled on one of his hoodies. he wasn't looking forward to school at all today, considering he couldn't force himself to get off of facetime last night and, with how stubborn his boyfriend was, there was no way ben was going to hang up. the two had stayed up all night talking about anything and everything. he probably hard the darkest bags imaginable under his eyes and looked like he had just crawled up from the deepest pits of hell, but he would get over it because it kept his boyfriend happy.

the boy had been infinitely happier since he met ben. he didn't think some blonde boy would have such an effect on him when they met, but a month later and joe would honestly do anything for ben. if ben asked him to rob a bank the first question joe would ask is 'which one?' joe was, in all senses of the word, whipped. he wouldn't even deny it when rami or gwil picked on him for it. it wasn't like rami was any better, though. he'd probably die just to keep lucy happy. that was what a happy relationship did to you. it was a genuinely nice feeling. 

joe walked out of the house, his keys in his hand. he grabbed a granola bar on his way out, knowing there was no way he could last until lunch time. joe drove to school, walking into his first period. it was precalculus, nothing special. if anybody knew joe, they knew that he was absolute shit at math. he wouldn't deny it either. he didn't remember formulas, or equations or anything. it was a surprise that he was even passing the class at all. he sat down in his seat, wondering why ben hadn't already responded to his good morning text. ben was always up before joe, and usually sent a text first. 

it was now joe's lunch period, which meant that he would see ben. he had texted his boyfriend a few more times, but all of them were left on delivered. joe's anxiety was starting to getting the better of him and he figured that ben was pissed off with something joe did. the two hadn't been dating for a month yet and joe would honestly be hurt if ben decided to break up with him. he walked into the lunchroom, seeing that ben's seat was still open. he sat down next to the empty seat. 

"is ben mad at me?" was the first thing out of joe's mouth. the others hadn't even gotten a chance to say hi yet. he only had one thing on his mind, and when joe wanted to know something, it turned out to be all that he was focused on.

"what did you do?" lucy asked, furrowing her eyebrows at joe. her and ben had grown pretty close over the last few weeks of ben being here. they hung out a lot and talked about all their boy stuff together. she was extremely protective of ben, knowing that she was almost two years older than him. she would probably beat the shit out of joe if he ever ended up doing something to ben. joe wouldn't put it past her, lucy could get really scary when she wanted to. 

"nothing. we stayed up on facetime last night and then he still hasn't texted me back this morning." joe spoke. he didn't like to overthink but, when you had something as good as he and ben did, it wasn't hard to do so. he rolled his eyes again as gwil joked about him being whipped "was he in first period?" he asked, looking at the blonde girl while he ignored his other friend. 

lucy shook her head. joe let out a sigh of relief, unless ben was so mad at him that he didn't even come to school. a few seconds later joe's phone buzzed against his leg. in record time joe picked it out of his pocket, sighing in relief when he saw that ben had finally texted him back. that meant he wasn't totally pissed off with joe. joe still wondered if ben was mad at him at all. 

"told you there's nothing to be worried about." rami chastised, before biting into his piece of pizza. joe just gave him the middle finger. 

joe unlocked his phone, clicking on the notification to open the message thread between the two. 

blondie: sorry!!!! i just woke up slept through my alarms  
mazzelHOE: ur fine i just want extra kisses after school  
blondie: god ur a fucking headass   
mazzelHOE: but im ur headass  
blondie: u tryna make nachos with me?  
mazzelHOE: hell yea

the two texted throughout the rest of the lunch period, joe feeling all the pressure that was on his shoulder's fall off in waves. ben and him hadn't gotten into a single fight yet, and joe really didn't know how he would be able to handle it. he didn't want to be that complete suck-up boyfriend who would just let ben walk all over him, but he didn't want to be that hard ass boyfriend either. joe knew when he was wrong, and was able to admit so. 

the bell for the end of the day rang, and not even three minutes later joe was in his car driving to ben's house. he honestly felt like he wasn't a whole person when he was with his boyfriend. it was like the best part of him was missing. joe reached the hardy residence, parking his car. he grabbed his bookbag, knowing at some point he was going to have to help ben go over what they learned in fifth period today and then also do his own homework. 

luckily the cabinets contained everything the two needed for nachos, the two got set out on making them. ben was in charge of the toppings and the chips, while joe was in charge of cooking the ground beef. music was playing from joe's phone that was sat on the counter, situated between the two boys. they danced around, looking stupid. they cooked, chopped, and mixed everything before they ended up with a big beautiful plate of nachos. after the dishes were done, the two boys retreated up to ben's room to eat them and watch big mouth.

the two boys had recently both gotten into the show, deciding to watch it together. joe had maybe watched a few episodes ahead when he had gone home, but would definitely still laugh like all the jokes were new when he watched it with ben. joe laid his back against the bed, propped up slightly by the pillows. ben was laid between his legs, back against joe's chest. 

it was the little moments like this that meant the most to joe. he just loved being able to spend time with ben, doing nothing. he loved that they didn't always have to do something fancy to have fun with each other. they could simply make nachos, that were actually super fucking good, and watch big mouth and be perfectly content with how they had decided to spend their evening. 

joe looked down, seeing ben falling asleep on his chest. his boyfriend had shifted position so that his head was on joe's chest instead. he ran his hands through ben's hair, changing the show so that he wouldn't see any new episodes without him. joe switched it over to american dad. gwil had gotten him to watch the show when they were down at the beach. joe didn't like family guy at all so he figured he was going to hate american dad, but the show was actually super funny to him. he started it up, watching as the credits rolled. 

it was honestly amusing how much ben could sleep. he had missed school because he had woken up so late, and then could barely stay up until 7pm without taking a nap. joe didn't mind being napped on, not by such a cute boy, but it was just funny. ben was always talking about how tired he was but wouldn't go to sleep because he was video chatting with joe. 

the next thing joe knew, he was opening his eyes and seeing that it was dark outside. he had apparently fallen asleep, and still woke up before ben. joe looked at the time, seeing that it was 10. he shook ben, waking him up. he placed kisses all over his boyfriend's face, but between each one he complimented ben. he couldn't help but want to shower his boyfriend with love. it wasn't joe's fault that he just so happened to look adorable all the fucking time. it was also super cute to see ben blush with every compliment he gave. 

"alright, babe. i gotta go. i'll pick you up in the morning." joe informed, standing up. he almost got right back on the bed when ben made grabby hands, a pout very evident on his lips. joe leaned over, giving him one last kiss. "sleep well."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a huge thank you to everyone who reads this story. every single hit, comment, kudo and bookmark mean the world to me. xx


	10. sun's peace of mind

"ben, wake up!" he heard his sister whisper from the side of his bed. it was almost too loud to be a whisper, but if she had been any quieter ben would have still be asleep. he sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "i need you to give me a ride to josh's house." if ben was more awake then he would have probably punched her.

"what time is it?" he asked, checking his phone to see that the clock read 2:47 in the morning. "why the fuck do you need to go over to josh's house at three in the morning?" he asked, his dad mode immediately coming in. ben wasn't much older than skyler but she was still his younger sister. he didn't want her doing stupid shit, especially not if he could prevent it. skyler's cheeks immediately tinted pink and she turned her head slightly, not wanting her older brother to see her blushing over the thought of some guy.

"mom and dad just fell asleep and i really want to go and spend the night. i promise that's all." ben helped his sister do a lot of things. he helped her with her math homework, or talk to cute boys, or even lie to their parents about what she was doing after school, but sneaking out in the middle of the night was something that they had never done before. ben didn't want to be that asshole older brother that said no, but at the same time he felt like he had to be that asshole other brother.

ben knew what it was like to want to break the rules but because of that he also knew exactly what it felt like to get caught breaking the rules. he had just gained enough of his parent's trust to be sent to public school. that was a big deal for him and he knew it could be ripped away any second if he messed up. he also knew that his sister was smart, and could handle herself in lots of situations. skyler was fourteen, a teenager, and teenagers make really stupid decisions and think they're a lot sneakier than they actually are. ben could feel his resolve crumbling, but tried his hardest not to give in.

"i just got my license a week ago. mom and dad would take that and my car back if they found out." ben had turned sixteen the week prior, going to get his license on his birthday. he didn't get his camaro but his parents did give him an acura, so he couldn't be too upset. he knew the camaro was a long shot anyways. joe, of course, felt the need to christen the car and ben received his first 'roadhead' experience, as joe referred to it. ben wasn't complaining, but he almost ran over a mailbox or two.

skyler sighed, obviously annoyed at her brother's reluctance. "if they ask in the morning just tell them i went on an early morning walk. i promise i'll be back before eight." ben knew what dumb kids did together, considering he was one of the dumb kids that did stupid shit. "do you really think mom and dad are going to buy the fact that you decided to go out for a walk?" ben asked. he didn't really think that they would but if skyler was so convinced he didn't really see the harm in it.

"alright, but i swear to god if we get caught i'm killing you." skyler squealed before hushing as soon as she remembered she was supposed to be sneaking out of the house. ben got out of bed, putting on one of joe's hoodies and a pair of slippers before grabbing his keys and his phone. "you better be fucking lucky i love you." ben told his sister. all he got back was a dismissive hand wave.

fifteen minutes later, ben parked the acura outside of josh's house. he watched as the front light flickered on and a boy who looked not much older than skyler stepped out of the house. ben turned to look at skyler. "listen sky. i know how boys are, trust me. i know you might not think it but you never know what could happen. please be safe and if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask me." ben reached into the center console and grabbed out a condom, handing it over to his sister. she took it sheepishly. he hoped she wasn't doing anything of the sort, yet, but ben was fourteen when he lost his virginity so he really didn't have much to speak on without sounding like a total hypocrite.

"love you." skyler spoke before getting out of the car. ben rolled his eyes as she practically ran up to him, throwing her arms around him in a hug. he wondered if that's how he looked every time that he saw joe. ben grabbed his phone, shooting a quick text to his boyfriend. he didn't even know if joe was awake or not, but it was definitely worth a shot. ben hadn't seen his boyfriend for a while and was definitely missing him way more than normal.

blondie: hey u up  
mazzelHOE: is this a 3am booty call?  
blondie: nah helped skyler go see a boy and now i miss my boy  
mazzelHOE: god ur so gay sometimes, but come over  
blondie: i'll be there in like seven minutes  
mazzelHOE: see u soon, baby

ben would deny it until the death, but even the cute nickname over text still made the tips of his ears go red. it was annoying how even getting called dumb pet names made ben's heart race. joe could just smile at him and it made ben weak in the knees. he put his car into drive, connecting his phone to the bluetooth. he had, stupidly, let skyler have her phone connected and all she played for the whole ride was high school musical songs. now ben was definitely a fan of the movie (and zac efron), but listening to fabulous by sharpay three times in a row made him want to rip his ears off. he was definitely going to learn from his mistakes this time around and never let that happen again. now he knew better.

ben arrived at joe's house, parking his car. he sent joe a text to let him know that he was there before he got out of his car. he walked to the front porch step before the front door swung open. he almost audibly 'awe'd' at the sight of his boyfriend. he was wearing a pair of pajama pants that were probably a size too big and hung off his frame and some old soccer camp shirt. his hair was fluffy and all ben wanted to do was run his fingers through it. ben stepped inside, throwing himself at his boyfriend with his arms open. he wrapped his arms around joe's waist, resting his head in the crook of his neck. "god, i missed you."

the two hadn't seen each other for a few days considering that joe caught the flu and refused to end up passing it over to ben, and that meant not seeing him. they, of course, facetimed but it wasn't the same as seeing your significant other in person. "why were you even up?" ben asked. "i started playing sims at eleven and now i'm kinda sucked into this endless wormhole." ben shook his head, because of course that's why joe was still up.

ben made his way up to joe's room with his boyfriend trailing right behind him. he kicked off his slippers once he got into the room, placing them neatly by the door. he then plopped down on the bed, letting out a tired yawn as he did so. he was extremely grateful that there was no school tomorrow because he knew he couldn't have woken up from his alarm even if he wanted to. joe grabbed the controller to his playstation, handing it over to ben who was currently trying to pull the covers up under his chin. "you can pick what you want on netflix." ben turned the system on before scrolling through the choices. he felt like he had already watched almost everything on netflix. it really just showed how little of a social life ben actually had. "you're giving me netflix rights? who knew i would ever be this lucky?" he joked, giggling as joe playfully shoved him.

after settling on the bundy tapes, which ben had heard good things about, he laid back against the pillows. he took joe's free hand in his, rubbing his thumb over his boyfriend's knuckles. "you know i'm really lucky to have you right?" ben spoke, looking over at the older boy. "yeah, why's that?" joe asked, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "i'm being serious, joe." ben spoke, wanting his boyfriend to know just how serious he was being. "you're always there for me, even when i'm not there for myself. you always are so positive and such a ray of fucking sunshine. you radiate positive energy, and i just can't thank whoever the fuck put us in this universe at the same time enough." ben finished his monologue before joe kissed him so hard all the air left his body.

"i fucking love you, ben hardy." ben couldn't help the smile that appeared on his face. "and i fucking love you, joe mazzello."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you all for the support! it means the world to me and i'm so lucky for it all.
> 
> also i didn't do a birthday chapter for ben because i just did one for skyler, but if anybody was wondering they had ice cream cake.


	11. i'll fall in line

"fuck, who let me do this to myself." ben thought once he reached the driveway from his run. he had been starting to work out more and more lately. he wasn't anything other than skinny, but he wanted to be actually fit. he had started to give up working out once he sopped playing soccer, but now he wanted to get back on the right track. he was on the verge of not being able to make it up the stairs without huffing and puffing. 

once he reached his house, ben walked inside. he reveled in the feeling of the air conditioner before he walked into the kitchen. he grabbed a granola bar and a bottle of water. after standing in front of the fridge he chugged about half of it before his mom yelled at him for keeping the door open. with a sheepish apology ben made his way upstairs. 

ben flopped down on his bed, still slightly out of breath from his run. he was trying out for the soccer team next month and needed to start training. he had made it three miles today before feeling like he was going to pass out, so he was definitely getting better. he knew gwilym was going to make the team with his long ass legs but ben hadn't played for almost two years and had gotten a little lazy. 

he felt his phone vibrate against him and pulled it out of his waistband, cringing a little when he saw the sweat that stuck to the screen. he wiped it off on his shirt before sliding his finger across the bottom to answer the call. "hey luce, what's up?" ben spoke after putting the phone on speaker. he didn't really feel like getting sweat all over his face and didn't feel like getting up to wipe his phone screen off either. he dropped it down on his bed, getting up to change out of his work out clothes. 

"i think something's going on at joe's house. you need to get here as soon as possible." she spoke in a hurried voice. ben's heart immediately dropped, but before he could even respond lucy had ended the call. he was glad that she called him considering he would want to know if something bad had happened to joe immediately. he got up, not even bothering to change his clothes and then slid his feet into his slippers. he grabbed his keys and his phone, before shouting out that he would be back. he could explain to his parents where he had gone later.

ben all but ran to his car, getting in and breaking about sixty laws on the way to joe's house. he let out a sigh of relief as he saw that there were no emergency vehicles in front of the house, a bit of the weight falling off his shoulders at the thought that something really bad had happened. ben parked on the side of the street, running up to the front door. he didn't bother to knock and threw the front door open. he saw lucy sitting at the bottom of the staircase. "is everything okay? what happened, lucy?" ben asked, looking around the house for any signs. 

"i don't know. i think you need to go upstairs and check for yourself." she sounded really upset. any of the weight that had left ben's shoulders recently had appeared right back. he nodded, not wanting to say anything else. lucy scooted to the side, giving him enough room to pass. ben started up the stairs, looking back down at lucy when he was at the top. walking down the hallway to joe's room, ben could feel his heart beating in his chest. he didn't know what he was about to find, or if he would even be able to handle what he found. 

ben reached the door to joe's room and saw that it was slightly a jar. he felt blood pumping in his ears as he reached around, pushing it open. ben's arm fell back by his side, not knowing to make out of what he saw. 

in the middle of the room, joe was standing with a bundle of ballons in one hand, and a copy of the movie up in the other hand. in front of joe's feet was a cardboard sign and ben pieced it all today as soon as he read it. 

'adventure is out there. fly up to prom with me?' 

ben nodded, letting out a laugh as he saw the smile on joe's face. ben wrapped his arms around his boyfriend, kissing his cheek. "you're so fucking cute." ben spoke, letting out a laugh.

"did it work?" he heard lucy call from the end of the stairs and once joe yelled back an affirmation the two boys laughed at the cheer they got from their friend. "how did you even come up with that idea?" ben asked, looking over at joe. 

"one of the first movies we watched together was up, and i remember you saying that it was one of your favorite disney movies." joe shrugged it off like it was no big deal. ben was honestly surprised that he had remembered such a small detail. 

"i should really fight you though. i honestly should've gotten like thirty tickets with the way i drove over here. lucy should really be an actress. i honestly thought that you had died or something." ben informed his boyfriend who just laughed. 

"it got you over here though, didn't it?" joe hypothetically asked, and yeah ben couldn't really argue with that.

"alright asshole, now let's go and take a picture cause my mom would kill me if i didn't and then let's go get some taco bell."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it's kind of short. i thought this was cute, though
> 
> but two more chapters left so that's fun!


	12. take me higher

ben took his airpod out, stuffing it back into it's case. "sorry babe, i couldn't hear you. i don't speak broke." he laughed, getting louder only when joe elbowed him in his side. 

"you're really annoying, you know that right?" joe asked, looking over at his boyfriend. ben nodded, before leaning over to place a kiss on joe's lips before speaking. "definitely."

the two boys sat on the ground, looking around ben's backyard. they hadn't gone to school today considering that ben didn't want to get out of bed this morning and joe had fallen asleep in ben's bed after a binging of criminal minds. "but as i was saying before my boyfriend rudely called me broke, do you want to come to my family party on saturday? my family's having a cookout for my dad's birthday and the whole family is coming" he explained. 

"when you say whole family, you mean like extended family too right?" ben asked, a nervous edge to his voice. joe wrapped his arm around his boyfriend's waist, pulling him close before placing kisses all over his cheeks. joe nodded, between kisses.

"yeah, what about it?" joe asked, not getting why it was such a big deal to ben. this was ben's first real relationship. he had never met anyone's extended family or anything like that. this meant that it was getting really serious. ben could see himself being with joe for a long time, potentially forever. he just didn't want joe's family not to like him. he figured it would be a deal breaker, especially with how highly joe talked about all of his family. his uncle was the one who had gotten him into baseball. baseball was a big part of joe's life, and ben knew that his uncle and him were super close. if joe's uncle didn't like ben he could essentially kiss the relationship goodbye.

"i guess i'm just nervous. i want your family to like me." joe leaned back, looking down at ben. "i promise you that they'll love you just as much as i do, maybe even more than i do." ben wasn't entirely convinced but he would just have to wait until saturday. 

saturday came, and ben was more nervous than not. he had changed his outfit four different times and he was supposed to be at joe's house in thirty minutes. his mother had made a batch of potato salad, and while ben wouldn't touch the shit with a ten foot pole he was glad that he wouldn't be going in there empty handed. he grabbed his car keys, and the bowl before leaving the house. he didn't want to do too much and wear a tie so he just wore a loose button up and a pair of jeans. 

ben got to joe's house, parking his car. he ran his hands through his hair a few times, making sure that he looked alright. ben sent joe a text, letting him know that he was outside. a few moments later the front door swung open and joe was standing there, a smile on his face. ben got out of the car, walking over to the front door. "hi babe!" joe said, a smile on his face before he greeted his boyfriend with a kiss. "ah! this is the ben i haven't stopped hearing about!" joe's dad spoke. his father was always out of town on business and the two just never had the chance to meet. 

ben stuck his hand out, almost wincing at how strong mr mazzello's grip was. "it's nice to meet you." ben said with a smile. once their hands dropped, ben held out the bowl of potato salad. "my mom made some potato salad, where can i set it down?" ben's dad tilted his head to the side, along with a 'follow me.' and ben followed behind him. joe walked over there too, his hand taking ben's. they got to the backyard, seeing tables lined with food and drinks, along with all the meat that was supposed to be cooked on the grill later. 

"everybody, this is ben. ben this is everybody." joe said with a laugh before ben gave a little wave. "joe, good job! he's cute." joe's older cousin came up, slapping him on the back. ben blushed slightly, a smile giving off his thanks. joe laughed, pulling ben to follow him to one of the picnic tables that didn't have too many people. joe knew that ben wasn't too comfortable around big crows of people that he didn't know. "are you alright?" joe asked, whispering into ben's ear. ben nodded, taking joe's hand to squeeze it in reassurance. 

"as long as i'm with you, i'm fine." joe smiled, and ben couldn't help but smile back.

"oh get a room!" joe's favorite cousin, olivia, giggled out. joe just stuck out his tongue. 

about twenty minutes later, joe's uncle came in and ben saw how joe's eyes immediately lit up. he had talked about how he hadn't seen him in a while and missed him. joe got up, giving his uncle a big hug. joe brought him over to the table and ben's heart was racing about a mile a minute. "uncle rob, this is my boyfriend ben. ben, this is my uncle rob." ben stood up, holding his hand out. rob shook ben's hand, definitely with a less menacing grip than joe's dad had done. "you're the one my nephew won't shut up about. i swear it's always 'ben this. ben that.' he spoke, laughing. ben blushed, while joe rolled his eyes. 

"i guess that's me." ben laughed. this was actually a good meeting so far, and his nervousness was dripping off in layers with every word that passed. ben didn't know why he had gotten so nervous. 

"alright, we're going to go and hang out in the basement. we'll be back down for the baseball game." joe informed, ending the conversation. ben waved goodbye, and walked into the house with joe. 

the two made their way down to the basement. joe knew that all his cousin's immediately retreated to the basement. they all played video games and just did stupid shit while the parents drank and cooked the food. 

ben sat down on the couch, plopping down beside joe. joe's little cousin, victoria, came up and ben almost melted at just how cute the little girl was. she had her brown hair up in little pigtails and she had on a purple dress with matching sandals. "hi ben! i'm victoria." she said, pointing to herself as she said her name. "hi victoria. it's nice to meet you." ben said, smiling down at her. "do you want to play dolls with me?" she asked. "i would be absolutely honored."

ben got up, smiling as joe joked about how victoria was stealing his man before he walked over the dollhouse that was in the corner. it wasn't often that it was used and ben could tell just by looking at it. the dollhouse was pretty dull and there was a slight coat of dust on it. ben opened the dollhouse and pulled out two dolls, handing one to victoria. the two played with them, victoria giggling at almost everything ben said. 

after a while joe came up, sitting down next to ben. "hi, baby." ben took joe's hand in his, interlacing their fingers together. 

victoria looked up, noticing that ben had stopped playing with the dolls. "ben, are you and joe in love?" she asked. ben nodded, looking over at his boyfriend. "yeah. we are." joe gave ben's hand a squeeze. "does that mean you two are going to get married."

ben froze while joe laughed. "maybe one day." joe finally spoke up. victoria seemed satisfied with the answer as she just nodded. "okay, as long as i get to be the flower girl." ben giggled, nodding. "i promise you'll get to be the flower girl."

about six hours later the barbecue was over, and everyone had left. ben was laying down on joe's bed, tapping his fingers against his stomach. he sat up, looking at joe. "did you mean it earlier?" he asked, causing joe to look over. "did you mean it when you said that you would marry me one day?" ben asked, looking down at his hands. 

joe moved across the room, tilting ben's chin up with his hand. he leaned down, giving his boyfriend a soft kiss. "absolutely."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you guys for the endless support and love. you are all so cute!


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